lowering my tyre pressures???

it is always best to stick to recommended tyre pressures, I doubt you would notice any ride difference in lowering by 2 psi anyway. risks from lower pressures are tyre overheating, incorrect contact area, risk of tyre and wheel damage, heavier steering, worse handling, possible aggro from insurance in event of crash ( very unlikely)

mrcheerful

Thanks mr Cheerful. Guess I'll have to get used to the harder ride.

It is a legal requirement in the UK to have tyres inflated to the correct pressure.

It is usually understood that a tyre under inflated by more than

I doubt this is your problem anyway. Does your new car have very low profile tyres or have the springs been changed for sportier/stiffer ones? Has the car been lowered? These would make the ride less comfortable.

HTH

Chris

Got one with large wheels and 'small' tyres?

Trouble is lowering the tyre pressures will make the wheels more likely to be damaged by potholes or kerbing, etc.

It sounds like your new car has bigger wheels and smaller profile tyres. Did you try the car on the streets you'll be driving on before buying it?

If this is the case, reducing the tyre pressures will "soggify" the ride, but it has other important disadvantages such as increasing the tyre wear, running tyre temperature and the likelihood of damaging a wheel if you go through a big enough pot hole.

You may well find a better alternative is to replace the standard wheels with one from a "lesser" model.

This is one of the major reasons I bought a Rover 75 - lovely cushioned and compliant ride quality. I hate this modern tendency to produce cars with a bias toward 'sportiness' - which usually means rock-hard suspension that rattles your fillings out.

Kev

Yup. I tried a version of my E39 with sports suspension and huge wheels, and although it may have 'crispened' the handling somewhat it did nothing for the ride. Yet many road tests recommended this.

Each to his own, I suppose.

yes - did try it out twice on the road, obviously smoother than my immediate area!!!! Tyres are 15" with a 195 50 profile - not skinny low profile methinks. Apparently these SEATs are firmer than others. A review that I read at the dealers said that it "thuds" over bumps in the road. Methinks that they are right ;-(

Yes. One should always drive any given car over their usual roads. If nothing else it serves as a fair comparison.

No they're note. What did you have before?

SEAT typically use a firmer set up to something with a firm set up anyway! :p

Perhaps, but for most Rover 75s I've tried they've gone far too the other way. I have a preference for a blend - something that's supple enough on a rough road but can change direction very quickly.

We've achieved both with the Ka - moving from 165/60/14s to 185/60/13s and we're now using the Ford Racing suspension. Over most road surfaces there's very little difference on ride (Ford Racing know their stuff) but it's much better in the hooning stages.

I'll let everybody know how smooth the ride is after our road trip to Italy! :0

I think you are looking at this the wrong way, surely the "problem" isn't the car, it's the potholes and bumps?

I know that cycling and motorcycling organisations encourage their members to report potholes and bumps (aside from ones installed by the council) and perhaps drivers should consider doing the same. After all, it's part of what your council tax pays for, road maintenance.

Just to cheer you up, I damaged once a front wheel bearing hitting a large pothole, subsequently failed an MOT.

MH

The 75 is too ride-biased for me on 15s, mine was on 16s and I found that quite happy ride and handling wise - much better than the 15" wheeled demonstrator with minimal loss of comfort. Drive a ZT on the firm suspension option on 18" wheels if you want to see the difference wheels / susspension can make...

It appeared recently on the options list for other models but with only the comfort and sport modes. 'twas developed for Volvo by Ohlins.

It's all relative ;-) Nowadays, 50's are quite common on 'normal' cars...

My rear tyres are 35% profile!

Justin.

But that's prickly the issue. 50 is still very low, obviously dictated by fashion trends. The problem is compounded if the car was designed for higher profiles as standard but optionally fitted with low profiles.

Why bother with tyres, just drive on the rims :-)

Why do speed cameras limit your driving to 30 or 40mph?

My Vauxhall Senator 3.0 litre had a switch on the dash for changing the suspension settings - think it was something like S/M/C, although cant remember exactly. It was handy, the softest setting was nice on the motorway but trying to drive along twisty country roads was scary! lol. Not sure if this is a similar system offered on Volvo now.

i have 55's on the rear and err i think 45 on the front, can't rememver, but you can see the difference